Vampire Clan
by MirandaSixx
Summary: Basically, this is a story based on an RP in which myself, Sarah KOM and Silent Wolf participated in. First shot at writing a fanfic, so be kind please. Characters owned by me: Liam, Mordred Redfern all his family, Zack San Diego, Cyrus Van Helsing.Chara
1. Chapter 1

Vampire Clan 

(Chapter one)

The night was cold and dark but for a frosty crescent of moon riding high in the sky. Only a few people were out on the streets... some of them were human, others were not. A boy walked confidently down a dark alleyway that ran thru the centre of town. Anyone looking at him would have thought him too young to be out alone at this time... but appearences were deceiving. He was a vampire, 650 years old and his name was Liam. He was hunting, looking for a suitable victim; maybe a homeless person, a thief or anyone else that he considered deserving. Not all his victims died; some were spared.

In a nearby church, a teenage girl walked to the front pew and knelt to pray. She murmured the words over and over again; not believing one minute that such a gesture would save her soul from the eternal damnation that she was sure it was destined for. Her long black hair fell over her face, obscuring it. She was also a vampire; born 17 years ago. A tear ran down her cheek and that was surprising; Gabrielle Van Helsing wasn't given to tears. She reached up and obliterated the treacherous teardrop as she bent her head once more. Finishing her prayers, Gabrielle exited the church lost in thought.

"Nilly! Time to go out!" Nilly sighed inwardly at the sound of her foster father's voice. She hated having to go out to feed every night; however, she knew what would happen to her if she didn't. The slender brown haired girl slipped quietly out of the house. She walked down the street, her grey eyes flashing with boredom. "There's never any true game around here," she grumbled. Nilly reached a bench and sat down, sighing as she did so. A teenager walked over to her. "What's the matter?" he asked curiously. "I'm sad..." she replied. "About what?" "My puppy in the alleyway. He won't live til tomorrow... he followed me here, but he won't come out." The teenager looked sympathetic. "I'm good with dogs, I'll go and get him for you." He walked into the alleyway and started whistling and calling, "Here Fido!"

Gabrielle passed by Nilly. She rolled her eyes at the crudity of this vampire's hunting technique. "I have my own ways of feeding," said Nilly, stung by the unspoken criticism. She called to the teenager, "He's further in... I'd go in and get him, but I'm scared of the dark." The boy walked further into the shadow and Nilly followed him. "Idiot," remarked Gabrielle as the sounds of the teenager's death sounded faintly. Nilly walked back out, wiping the blood from her mouth. "I botched that. He shouldn't have struggled... I need to work on my mind bolts." "I could help you, but you're probably as lacking in manners as your victim." Nilly glared at her. "Shut up. He put up a fight." "Indeed," replied Gabrielle. "But you still should not have killed." "I try not to, but it's hard for me to keep a map of the town in my head. I'm affected with amnesia, sometimes I just lose whole images."

In the same alleyway, but further down, a teenage girl was walking home from a disco. She'd decided not to wait for a bus, but to walk thru the alleyway instead. She'd heard a few stories about girls who had been found dead in this alleyway, but it could never happen to her... she shivered, and tried to pull her miniskirt down so it covered her knees. She gave up, as it was too short to do the job and walked on, tottering slightly in her 4 inch stilettos. Before she knew what had happened, she had been knocked to the ground by an invisible blow. She screamed; the throat tearing scream of the female in mortal peril... for about 3 seconds before the scream was cut off. Liam had paralysed her mind; he took her in his arms and bit into her throat. This girl was to be lucky; Liam had no desire to kill tonight and he merely drank enough blood to sustain him before laying her body down on the ground. He took off the mind paralysis; she'd come round in about 5 minutes. Liam melted into the shadows... walking down the alleyway he came across the crudely decapitated body of the boy. "New vampire, obviously," he thought contemptously. "He or she won't last long with such carelessness."

"I'm off," Nilly said abruptly to Gabrielle. She wanted to get back home to practice her mental powers. Gabrielle merely shrugged in reply. Liam watched her go. Gently, he probed her mind; he hadn't seen this vampire before. He withdrew from the girl's mind, and looked at her companion. Recognising her as Gabrielle Van Helsing, he did away with the thought of probing her mind; she'd be on to him in a second. Nilly walked away towards the beach. She sat down and watched the waves break on the shore. "Natho..." she thought. Gabrielle also left; she had a contract to complete and she needed to be in a certain place at just the right time. Nilly sat on the fog shrouded beach; lost in thought.Grey sand and dark blue waves... they reminded her of her lost love. "Stop thinking about him... he's dead," she mentally scolded herself, but it was hard not to, with the sea being the exact colour of Natho's eyes. Lost in thought, Nilly stared into the sea.

Liam decided to walk down the beach. Every time he set eyes on Gabrielle, memories jumped up... not of her, but of a girl he had once loved. She was dead, so there was no point in thinking of her... he pushed the memory to the back of his mind again. Walking down the beach, he saw the girl who's mind he'd read. She had very confused memories, and he doubted that she understood them herself. He also noticed the drama playing out on a street next to the beach, but as far as he was concerned it didn't interest him at all. He watched though for want of something to do.

The focal point of the drama was a man running for his life, gasping for breath and his eyes wide with fear at what pursued him. Foam trickled from the side of his mouth. Then, a young girl with long black hair stepped out in front of him. "Help me!" he cried. "Save me from her!" Gabrielle smiled, but not at him. "Hello, Erin," she said to the girl who was running up close behind the man. Instantly, the man realised that he was in trouble, but it was too late to save himself. Gabrielle leapt up and dropkicked the man to the ground, breaking his neck. Erin, who had long red hair and dark green eyes, sniggered. "That guy is a gomadan if I ever saw one," she commented. Gabrielle grinned again. "Personally, I prefer the term 'fucking retard'." "Whatever happened to being nice, Gabrielle?" "Being nice went out of the window with my innocence about four years ago." Erin noticed Liam standing there and remarked, "You're the depressed bugger, right?" Liam glared at her. "No I'm not." "You certainly act like it; you never smile, you never laugh..." "You sound like you're describing yourself, Erin!" remarked Gabrielle. Liam glared at Erin. "I don't think you'd ever understand, even if I did tell you," he said to her, before moving off down the beach. Gabrielle tried to hide her smile as she said to Erin, "Looks like everyone finds you annoying, Erin." "Not everyone!" "Just the people who haven't met you yet," Gabrielle remarked.

Nilly walked down the beach, lost in melancoly thoughts. She sat down eventually on a tree stump; it had been a great Sequioa once, but had been blasted by lightning some time before. Liam walked in the same direction for a while, but his attention was distracted by a homeless girl in her sleeping bag. He fed from her, but didn't kill her; today, he didn't feel like killing. Looking up at the sound of Erin arguing with Gabrielle, he remarked on Gabrielle's last comment, "I couldn't agree more." Gabrielle replied, "They should count themselves lucky, you know, that they haven't met her." "I agree with that too." Erin scowled. "You don't even know me!" "Nor do I want to." Gabrielle grinned. "That's the smartest thing I've heard all day!" Erin scowled again. Liam smiled. Gabrielle looked at him in shock. "A smile! If I was the fainting type I'd be unconcious right now." Over by the tree stump, Nilly glared at them. "Do you mind being quiet? I'm trying to think." Gabrielle yelled back. "I'm not the one who's screaming!" "Still, shut up." Nilly angrily got up and started walking back to her home.

Gabrielle shrugged, and turned to Liam. "Just out of interest, do you know anything that could kill a supposed immortal vampire? Cuz I think it's time my dear father suffers for his many sins." She spat out the words venomously. Nilly, who had turned back out of curiosity, said, "Only a werewolf can kill a vampire I think." "I'll make a note of it," replied Gabrielle. "Who are you guys anyways? I'm Niltiac Tsegrah. Just so you know, I don't really remember a whole lot from my past, though I think he knows." She nodded at Liam. "My mind is sensitive. So I know when someone's reading it." Gabrielle held out her hand to shake. "I'm Gabrielle Van Helsing." Nilly shook her hand. "I knew a Van Helsing a few centuries ago. Very nice man. He saved me from Dracula." She winced at the memory. "He nearly drank me dry... I never liked Dracula much." "My mother did," commented Gabrielle dryly. "She slept with his friend and that's how I came into existance." Nilly sighed at the word "friend". "I don't have many friends; my foster family won't let me out very often, except to feed." "At least you have a family, mine don't count," said Gabrielle. "And I'll be your friend if you want." Nilly's face lit up. "Thanks. I'd better be getting back now, my foster father throws a fit if I'm not back on time." "Bye then, and I'll see you tomorrow night." Gabrielle looked around, and saw that Liam had gone. "He's gone, without even saying goodbye. I mean, how rude." Nilly smiled, then she walked off in the direction of her house.


	2. Chapter 2

Vampire Clan _(continued)_

(Chapter 6)

Nilly walked farther down the street, lost in thought. "Natho... it's been two years... where are you?" she thought sadly. She walked on for a bit, lost in her misery. Feeling tired, Nilly sat on a bench, then whispered, "Something guide me..." A faint wind started, and Nilly looked up to see that stormclouds were being thrown in. Already rain had started to fall, but she didn't care. She liked the rain. As the rain fell harder, Nilly cried. One of the reasons she loved the rain was because then, no one could see her tears...

Liam sat on a bench in the rain, feeling it but not caring. He sat with his face in his hands, so that no-one could see. The way he felt now, if anyone came to disturb him now, he would kill them. Erin looked at Liam,she wouldn't annoy him though "What's wrong with him?" she wondered. "I've lost her, I've lost her forever..." Liam thought, for once not bothering to shield his thoughts. What was the point of anything anymore? He'd lost the girl he loved, she didn't want him. Nilly somehow heard Liam's thoughts, and she was confused. "So he DOES care..." she thought, surprised. Nilly stood up and walked down the sidewalk, her eyes downcast. "There's a lot of sorrow and self-pity around..." In her room at the hospital, Gabrielle examined her fingers,blinking furiously under her curtain of dark hair. She didn't know what to think any more. Later, Gabrielle sat in a chair with her chin resting on her hands. "You idiot.You bloody idiot." she thought to herself.

The nurse who had been lurking unnoticed in the background walked out of the door. She stopped at the reception to give a friendly goodbye to the girl, then walked out of the door. Once outside, she put up an umbrella and hurried. "Father will want to hear of this," she thought. Of course, she wasn't a nurse... she was in fact a vampire, the daughter of Mordred and his wife Guinivere. Her name was Regan and she was his favourite child. She had hoped for something like this... that was why she had taken the shape of the nurse in the first place. After all, the enemies of her father often ended up in the hospital in the end, so it made perfect sense to plant herself as a spy. Regan's main power was of illusion. A few hours later, she was standing in front of her father, telling him everything she had learned. Mordred's eyes grew dark. "That slut... she's pregnant by Liam, you say?" Regan nodded. "Yes, I heard everything, father." Mordred dismissed her with a wave, then prepared to send a message to San Diego. He wrote a letter and took a messenger bat and, after tying the message to it, threw it out of the window.

A shiver ran down Nilly's back as she saw a bat fly overhead. "That can't be good... Oh no, please don't be sent to San Diego..." Just to be safe, she turned into a grey dove and followed the messenger bat, stopping every now and then so she wasn't obvious. The bat flew on until it reached San Diego's residence. He took the letter off it and read it. For 20 minutes he stared at the message with shock. When the bat had flown in the window, a grey dove with golden eyes perched on the window sill. It was Nilly, in another form. She pecked at a bug crawling by absently. She hadn't fed in a few hours, but being in animal form really pissed her energy off. Her sixth sense tingled. Nilly flew off the ledge - and flew straight into a net. An alarm rang, and she couldn't move! Nilly pecked at the net - which she immediately found was very strong spiderweb - only to get her beak tied shut. "Dammit!" she thought in frustration. Eventually, Nilly stopped moving, and somehow went back to her usual form. "Crap, if I don't feed soon, it's not going to be pretty." Nilly looked up at the sky, cursing whatever had caused her to be foolish. "I don't want to fucking die! I'm not married!" San Diego casually walked up to Nilly and shot a mental bolt at her, sending her collapsing to the ground.

Liam looked up; a girl was walking towards him. "Are you alright?" she said, moments before a mental bolt felled her. Liam took her and drank the blood from her throat, before tossing her body aside like so much trash. He then got up and walked away thru the falling rain towards his flat. Liam finally reached his flat and slammed the door as hard as he could, before going upstairs to his bedroom and slamming that door too. He flung himself on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Gabrielle traced the tattoo of DawningShadow on her arm. A solitary tear spilled from her eye. A cooing interupted Gabrielle's thoughts. She looked up to see her half black half white dove cooing at her. DawningShadow cooed again, then flew off to where Liam was. Liam was lying on his bed when he heard a tapping at the window. He got up and opened it. A black and white dove flew in. DawningShadow looked at Liam. "So that's why she's sad..." the bird thought. She smiled a bird smile. "There... that's better. Now... Qui-San my bird you'd better see to Gabrielle.You promised to always be there for her." Qui-san/DawningShadow chided herself. Liam opened the window and the dove flew out. When it had gone, Liam lay back down on the bed and tried not to think at all. Qui-san flew back to Gabrielle. "Oh my dear Gabrielle...don't worry..." she whispered to no avail. A ghost floated up to Liam, whispering to him, "You have to think about it... it won't go away." Irritated, Liam sent a mental bolt at the ghost, dissolving it.

Nilly tried to move, but without success. "Now I know how the humans feel... I don't feel much, but I can't move!" San Diego picked up Nilly, smiling and flung her over his back, she was Gabrielle's friend and could be used as bait to lure his daughter. At that point, Mordred appeared in the room. He glared at Nilly. "Oh hello Les Miserable.," said San Diego to Mordred. Mordred replied, "Very funny. Now, how is capturing this girl going to get that slut daughter of yours and that mistake I made over here?" "Because she is her friend. And Liam will follow Gabrielle here. I think he will anyway." "He might... from what my daughter tells me, he seems to have some feelings for the slut." Nilly kicked Diego in the stomach, meaning "PUT ME DOWN!" She had the feeling in her legs back, but not her waist up. San Diego sighed and hit Nilly in the face. "Do that again and I'll rip your throat out. Or maybe Artemis will..." "Or maybe I'll let Regan do it," said Mordred lazily. "After all, it was her who brought it all to my attention. You and your friends really shouldn't be so careless, talking where anyone could hear you." Mordred made a sign in the air, and Regan appeared. Smiling evilly, she walked up to Nilly and hit her accross the face. "Remember me?" she laughed, stepping back out of range. For a minute, she seemed to be dressed in nurse's gear, then went back to wearing a black velvet dress. Artemis then sidled out of the shadows, smiling evilly. "Great, didn't Liam kill you already?" Nilly somehow fell on the floor, then stood up against a wall. "Try and kill me. I'll kick all your sorry asses." She looked wildly around, then vanished.

Regan laughed. "You're still there... I can smell you! She's standing right there, father." Mordred sent a mental bolt to where Nilly was. "Crap, I shouldn't have fed right before I got caught..." thought Nilly, reappearing. With difficulty, she mumbled, "I'll stay..." She glared at them though. San Diego grinned. "Perhaps I'll have a little sport with you darling," he said hungrily. Nilly glared. "Now I know where Arty dear gets her whorishness..." Artemis slapped Nilly. "Shut up you moron if you know what's good for you." Nilly remained silent, staring at the floor. "Why did I follow that bat... Why?" San Diego turned to Mordred. "Shall we tell Gabrielle about Nilly?" Regan turned to her father. "Can I feed off her, father please?" Mordred nodded, smiling evilly. Regan walked up to Nilly, and bit her in the neck. She drank, then she stepped back, licking her lips and fangs. Artemis stared at Nilly, for a second she felt a pang of regret but it was soon gone. Nilly didn't flinch. She'd been bitten before, by a more powerful vampire: Dracula. Sometimes she could still feel that awful sting. Mordred replied to San Diego, "Sure, tell her. And that mistake of mine, too." San Diego smiled and disappeared. Mordred held his daughter's arm, before making a sign in the air. They both disappeared.

(Chapter 7)

Meanwhile, in a place far away, Haba, a middle-aged looking man heard Nilly's thoughts. He sighed and thought, "I'd better help. Her destiny is not yet completed.. Nor is Artemis's." He snapped his fingers, and a copy of Nilly appeared. It was a holographic kind, one that would show Gabrielle all that was happening. He sent another holographic image to Liam. The copy of Nilly went to Gabrielle and explained everything that had happened. Gabrielle picked up her sword. "Bloody bastard! If he hurts Nilly..." "Stop!" said the hologram. "That's just it. She doesn't WANT you to save her. She knows what your father is planning to do - kill you AND LIAM! Look, I'm basically a virtual copy of Nilly, but I know you like him more than you think you do." With that, the hologram vanished. The hologram which had been sent to Liam hovered nervously, ready to be mind bolted into oblivion. "And Gabrielle's going after San Diego and Mordred. The other hologram told her not to." "Why can't you leave me alone?" said Liam. "And why stop Gabrielle going after San Diego and Mordred? They're both bastards anyway." The hologram cursed and ran thru a wall. Liam shrugged and lay back down. "She doesn't want me anyway," he thought.

Just then, Haba walked through the wall, reading a letter. "Darn it, stocks keep fluctuating... Ah, are you Liam? The hologram was complaining about you." Liam glared at the stranger. "Just who the hell are you?" "I am Haba, Nilly's ancestor and the deity of death in one religion. And the messenger of warnings." He sat on a chair that appeared out of nowhere. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing in my flat." Liam rolled his eyes. "A copy of Gabrielle's journal, plus an entry she just finished writing, is the reason I'm here," replied Haba. "I don't read people's journals, generally. What I have is her last two entries." He set them on a table nearby, then said, "So how's the afterlife treating you?" "Until recently, fine," replied Liam moodily. "Now it's shit." "Love can do that." He looked at a wall. "Don't need to be angry with me; I know what's going on." "I'm not in love." "Say what you think, but you'll see it. Didn't you feel hurt when she said you didn't have to stay?" Liam didn't reply but looked down at the floor. He had been hurt, but he wasn't going to admit it. Haba sighed. "So stubborn..." "What do you want me to say? There's no point to anything any more... she doesn't want me." "Look, you may not WANT to realize the truth, but she DOES love you back, Liam..." sighed Haba.

DawningShadow fluttered beyond Haba's ear, she bounced up and down as if nodding then flung a drawing at Liam. The drawing was a quick sketch of Gabrielle's that she had made after Liam had gone. It portrayed a girl with dark hair who was crying sadly, written at the bottom was 'Me right now.' DawningShadow glared at him. "Oh come on!! Surely you'd believe HER?" Liam picked up the picture, and looked at it for a long time. "But... she told me to go!" he said. "Because she thought you wanted to go." "But I didn't want to go. If I'd wanted to go I would have left as soon as Carla and Nilly arrived." "And how was she supposed to know? Bloody hell, guys," twittered Qui-San crossly. "But what am I supposed to do?! No-one's told me that yet." You could try telling her!" yelled Qui-san. "She's gone to where Nilly is. She paid no heed to Haba's warning." "Shit!," shouted Liam, overcome with fear for Gabrielle. "Mordred will kill her... the bastard's still stuck in the Dark Ages, if he lays one hand on her..." Liam leapt up and ran to the door, pausing only to grab his bokken.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle was walking up to Nilly. She was in an extremely bad mood; several vampires had lost their heads within minutes of attacking her. Just as Gabrielle walked up to Nilly, Nilly gave an evil smile and changed shape; she was actually Regan. "Surprise!" she said, moments before bars clanged down around them. Regan giggled, then disappeared, to reappear outside the cage with her father. Mordred looked at Gabrielle with contempt, especially at her swelling stomach. Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "How pathetic," she commented calmly. Mordred ignored her comment, and said, "That cage is enforced with spells. You won't be able to leave it and I wouldn't recommend trying as you'll burn yourself." As he walked away, Regan looked in the cage and sniggered evilly. "You can just sit tight here until lover boy gets here!" Gabrielle looked at Regan with acid in her glare, blood began streaming from Regan's eyes. Regan blinked, staggered back and touched her face; immediately it was normal. She looked daggers at Gabrielle. "I too know some magic," she said. "I wouldn't try anything else if I were you... just sit there and think about what's going to happen to you and your boyfriend." Regan made a sign in the air and vanished.

Liam ran from his flat, stopping only to slam the door shut and ran down the street. "If he lays one finger on her, I'll fucking kill him!" he thought. Erin saw him, and ran after him. "Oy! I'm going with you!" she yelled. Liam stopped, and turned round. "Good, then you can help me rip Mordred into little pieces." Erin grinned and her hands erupted into red and yellow flames on one hand and blue flames on the other. "I can do better then that. Pyrokinetic." "Come on then... I know where the bastard lives." Erin yanked on Liam's sleeve. "No way. We're doing this with stealth, the way you are right now you'll just burst in. That won't do anyone any good at all. Hmmm..." Carla appeared around the corner with her newest batch of experimantal weapons that had been tested and proved worthy of use. Erin grinned and called her over. "Just the girl." Liam rolled his eyes. "OK, we'll do it your way," he said. "This ghost thing told me that Gabrielle is locked in a cage that's got spells on it... that sounds like the sort of thing Mordred would think up." "Right, so are there any buildings that give a view of the place?" Erin asked Liam. "There's a folly right opposite it... it's just a tower on its own, don't know what it's supposed to be." "That'll do. Now to the folly!"

Later, Erin viewed the building. Through a window, she could see Gabrielle. She was meditating inside the cage. Liam sat on the floor of the folly, clenching and unclenching his fists. Carla was grinning triumphantly. "See? I knew it!" she said. Liam looked up. "Knew what?" "That you like Gabrielle," replied Carla. "Maybe even more than like." Erin sighed. "Here we go..." Liam had an internal struggle for a few minutes, then gave up. "Yes, I do like her." Carla immediately began to crow. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KN-" Erin slapped Carla. "Shut up.They'll hear you." "I thought of denying it but the way I was acting when I heard she'd been captured would contradict a denial." Liam sighed, then turned to Erin. "What can you see?" "Well the snotty one's there but no one else. I reckon we could sneak in now."

After sneaking in, Liam sent a mental message to Erin, taking care to shield it. "So, what's your plan with the cage? If it wasn't a strong spell, Gabrielle would be able to get out herself." Erin sent back, "It's a very strong one.You've got to remember that Gabrielle's witchiness only kicked in two years ago, the Vampiric thing one year ago.So while she's mastered most, the spell on the cage is too strong for her." Erin thought for a while, then sent, "Hmm... I've seen this sort of thing before. Needed werewolf blood then." "But werewolf blood will kill her! You can't put that on the cage as Gabrielle won't be able to touch the bars anyway." "But,she can touch fire. Knew being a pyro would help someday." "And what about Mordred? San Diego and some of Mordred's family are probably there as well." "Oh believe me, Gabrielle can handle Sandy. She's the one thing that can hurt San Diego because he has never drank her blood. And besides, you hear of that explosion at that castle last year? That only left a crater? That was Gabrielle, she got mad." "Not so much him then... but Mordred has a lot of kids." "That's why I came along." "Good. But if he's hurt her... his head's on a platter."

They walked into the room where Gabrielle was being held; it was empty apart from the cage. She was sitting in the lotus position meditating, she slowly opened her eyes to see Liam, Erin and Carla. "Hello," she said evenly, hoping none of her emotions showed in her voice. Liam's face showed as an expressionless mask; he was mentally searching for Mordred and his clan. Finally, he sent to Erin, "Mordred and San Diego are at the other end of the house, Mordred's wife is in the kitchen and most of the rest are out. Just Mordred's youngest is in the house, and she's up the other end of the house as well." Looking at Gabrielle, he said, "Hi." Gabrielle stood up, ever graceful. "Now,anyone know how to get me out of this damn cage, I'm beginning to feel like a fricking animal. By the way Liam, you really shouldn't be here. He's using me as bait so not the best thing." Liam replied, "I had no choice. I had to come." She looked at him. "You did?" Erin interrupted before he could answer, "Here, stand back Gabrielle. This stuff is Werewolf blood." She sprayed the cage then when the spell was gone she covered the bars in fire so Gabrielle could step out. Gabrielle did so quickly.

Liam stiffened slightly. "I think someone's coming." Sure enough, Regan walked into the room. She gasped when she saw that Gabrielle was free, but before she could apparate Liam threw an arm around her neck and pulled her towards him, simultainiously stunning her with a mental bolt. Gabrielle smiled as Regan collapsed. "She's a fucking bitch that one," she said conversationally. "Yeah, she's Mordred's baby girl," replied Liam, looking contemptously at Regan. "We'd better get out of here though." "That explains the 'Oh look at me' attitude," commented Gabrielle. "Awww, going already?" said San Diego, who had just walked into the room. Mordred stood behind San Diego, glaring at the group. He made a sign in the air, and Regan vanished. San Diego glared at Liam, if there was one thing he hated to see more then Gabrielle it was Gabrielle happy. And if she liked Liam and he liked her then that made her happy, which he just couldn't stand. Mordred looked at Gabrielle with deepest contempt. "In my day, a harlot like you would have been stoned to death." Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Well as it happens this isn't your day, so shut up and live in the present." "You won't be living for much long if I and San Diego have anything to do with it; so I suggest you shut up unless you plan to beg for your miserable life." "Beg? Sorry but I'm not you," Gabrielle said calmly. San Diego's eye twitched. Mordred laughed. "Brave words from the scum of the earth!" "No, I believe that's you."

"Believe what you like, it won't help you in the end." He turned to Liam and said, "Looks like the trap worked... you just couldn't keep away from your slut." Liam narrowed his eyes; the next moment, Mordred staggered and fell to his knees. San Diego pulled Mordred up. "That's all you've got?" he sneered and aimed a full blast at Liam, it sent him thumping against the wall cracking the stones. Liam dropped to the ground and lay still. Mordred laughed nastily, and sent a mental bolt to Carla, knocking her backwards. Carla quickly recovered and threw something at Mordred, it shattered and soon the acid was eating away his face and hands. Mordred blinked and shook his head; at that moment Regan appeared and made a motion of throwing something at her father; his face was healed and whole. She narrowed her eyes and leapt at Carla, tearing at her face with teeth and claws. Carla winced but said "Well you want to bite a chemical experiment and grow an extra head be my guest."

Regan tore a hole in Carla's chest, then jumped back. Suddenly there seemed to be a huge dragon breathing fire standing behind Regan as she shouted, "If you and your friend go now, your lives will be spared. Otherwise, you will die as well!" Carla giggled. "Didn't work!" she smiled and closed the wound. Mordred sent a bolt to Carla, knocking her to the floor. He then turned to Gabrielle. "You're dead now, bitch!" he said. Just as he was about to send a killing bolt at Gabrielle, he seemed to shudder before being flung to the side. Liam, who had up to that point been lying at the far wall seeming to be dead, had got up on all fours and thrown the strongest mental bolt he could muster to save Gabrielle's life. Gabrielle smiled in thanks, saying to him, "That's the second time you've saved my life." "You're welcome," said Liam, getting to his feet. He winced slightly as he did so. Gabrielle helped him up. "Are you OK?" "I think one of my ribs is broken. I'll be alright, remember there's still Mordred's baby girl and your father to deal with." "I can handle my father.And as for her... I'm sure she'll love getting aquainted with Erin."

Regan put an illusion of thunder and lightning around herself, and glared evilly at Erin. Erin grinned and swept away the illusion with one sweep of her left hand. "That has got to be the worst illusion ever," she commented as she punched Regan in the face with a red hot fiery fist. Regan barely flinched under the blow; she disappeared and reappeared behind Erin, kicking her to the floor. Erin responded by snapping Regan's neck with her feet. Regan closed her eyes and healed herself. "Bitch!" she spat, jumping to her feet and punching Erin so hard that she broke through the wall into the next room. Erin marched out and grabbed Regan by the throat, she squeezed until Regan went limp and her breathing became shallow. Regan fell to the floor next to her father, out cold.

Nilly, meanwhile, had been sitting against a cold wall in an underground cell, her ankles and wrists bound to heavy iron shackles. "Thinking about this really isn't helping me..." she thought to herself, pulling feebly at the chains. While she had been trapped, she had found that she hadn't really forgotten her past - she had just been trying to escape it. Nilly looked at the earthy ceiling, tears staining her face. "Why did I forget on purpose... why?" Sighing, Nilly looked at the cell door - and saw Natho trying to unlock it. "Natho?!" He looked up, his face in shadow. "It's me, don't panic. I tried to find you earlier, but I couldn't."

Back in the room where Gabrielle had been held captive, Liam turned to Gabrielle, "Just your father now..." "I'm going to enjoy this," she replied. "He's been marked for death ever since he killed Qui-san and Father Valence." "I'll let you deal with it then. However, if he tries anything like Mordred did, I'll sort him out." Gabrielle smiled and stalked off to find her father. Liam clutched his side and walked off after Gabrielle. "My ribs are taking a hell of a long time to fix themselves." Suddenly, an alarm started blaring. A loud snarl echoed off the walls as something large ran down the hall away from them. It turned briefly and looked down the corridor at them but didn't see them. Both Liam and Gabrielle could see the creature in full; it had glowing red eyes and looked like a creature half way between wolf and man. It walked on all fours but looked as if it could stand on two legs as well. It ran swiftly away from them.

Haba appeared; he seemed at a loss unusually for him. "Got any ideas about how to deal with this beast of San Diego's?" Liam replied, "I have a silver knife, but otherwise... I don't know what to do." Haba looked regretful. "That won't work; this werewolf used to be a vampire once upon a time before San Diego changed it into a werewolf. He then did something to it to keep it stuck in that half and half shape. Silver won't kill it and neither will wood cuz of it being halfway between the two states." "Then I haven't a clue." A scream rang out from where the werewolf had gone. Loud footsteps came from the stairs, and soon a young man appeared with Nilly in his arms. She was bleeding badly from a nasty bite wound in her side; it was obvious she'd been bitten by the werewolf. "She was bitten... the thing's unconscious, I don't know for how much longer," he said, gesturing to the stairs vaguely. "I'm Natho."

(Chapter 8)

Later, at the hospital, Nilly's condition was bad. She had suffered severe blood loss, a good bit of her right kidney had been ripped out, and her gallbladder was gone completely. The werewolf had apparently tried to eat her while she was still alive; if Natho hadn't rescued her, things would have gone bad with Nilly. Natho had tried giving her some of his blood; being a half vampire, it was the first thing he thought of, but it hadn't worked. The doctors at the hospital had shaken their heads over Nilly, convinced she wouldn't survive. Liam stood next to Nilly's bed with Gabrielle. To Natho, he said, "You saw the thing, you know her so do you know what to do to help her? Cuz I sure as hell don't." Natho, who had been sitting in a chair nearby and looking at the floor, said, "I really don't know what to do..." Gabrielle spoke up. "My Father was working on a new type of werewolf. One that could kill all Vampires. Possibly that was a prototype." "It wouldn't kill me. Although, I'm starting to think that a quick death would be preferable to lots of pain. And stop poking me in the ribs... they've mended now." Gabrielle desisted, then said, "Well, it might. According to Haba, that werewolf was a vampire before my father made it into a werewolf. That's a whole new breed of werewolf and I doubt you've gotten blood from one of those." "I've taken blood from a wolf demon," replied Liam. "That covers all wolves, demon or otherwise." He paused. "We'd better be careful what we say round here; one of those nurses could be Regan."

At this, Erin grinned. "I hope it is." "Don't start a fight in the hospital," warned Liam. "Or they won't let us in the next time one of us needs patching up." To Gabrielle, he said, "That was one hard wall your father threw me against." "One of his home made mixtures," said Gabrielle, rolling her eyes in disgust. "Made for maximum pain." "I'll have to return the favour next time I see him then," replied Liam. "What's more you could try this old Wiccan rule.Whatever you do that hurts someone you get it back three times worse.Very nice." "Yeah... I'd like to give him 3 times the pain that he gave me. Good idea." "I'd like to as well," said Gabrielle viciously. "He's fucked my life enough to deserve concentrated Hell." "As with Mordred, death would be too good for him. I know for a fact that Mordred's suffering now... he can't heal as fast as I can. We only have to worry about his 10 kids now." Liam rolled his eyes. "His wife must be as crazy as your mother was." "Except my mother only had two kids." "Apparently, Guinevere is really downtrodden and never stands up for herself," said Liam. "She really should." "And imagine having to put up with that spoiled brat Regan too." Gabrielle grimaced, then said in a very good imitation of Regan's snotty voice, "I can't help it if I'm rich and beautiful!" Liam burst out laughing. "That's a very good impression!" he said. "She's daddy's little girl... I can't stand her."

"What a moron.She kept droning ON and ON about herself...her and Artemis would be best friends," remarked Gabrielle. "They probably are by now... what a horrible thought. Still, Artemis is slightly better than Regan. No-one deserves Regan, well, except Mordred of course." "He's a bastard," said Liam. "He murdered his parents to be leader of the clan. His parents were good vampires; they didn't deserve to die. Except they shouldn't have called him Mordred; only a matter of time before he decided he had to live up to it." "What? Oh yeah... Mordred that killed King Arthur." Natho spoke up again. "Could we please come back to the point?" Liam replied to Natho, "Oh yeah, the werewolf. There's got to be some way of killing it; I can't think of anything right now but then all I've ever needed to kill werewolves has been a silver knife. With wolf demons it's draining all their blood but there's no way I'm trying that." "I've been thinking ever since it happened. I just can't think of anything... I just feel lost." "Need a map?" commented Erin. "Ha ha..." countered Natho. He wished he could laugh properly, but ever since the attack he just couldn't summon up the energy. "Well, that makes two of us," said Liam, dryly. "In most cases I'd suggest kidnap, but that won't work in this case as there's no-one Sandy cares about to make it worth kidnapping them to make him talk about how to kill the wolf." "What about Artemis? She'd know how to kill it. Kidnap her."

Nilly coughed a little, then was silent again. Natho looked up. "I heard them talking. Artemis was asking what it was; Diego didn't tell a word. Must've known you'd kidnap her." He sighed. "I had disguised myself as a servant." "Then how about Daddy's girl?" asked Gabrielle. "That might work; that budgie of Nilly's heard Sandy talking to Mordred. Apparently, Mordred knows how to neutralise it just in case Sandy gets taken out." "Oh boy." Natho stood up. "I'm going for a walk... I need to think... The intercom is hurting my ears." He walked out of the room, frowning. Liam hardly noticed. "If we kidnap his little girl, he'd spill all." Gabrielle grinned. "I just hope I'll be able to torture her..." "Same here," Liam smiled nastily. Erin looked at them. "Oh you two are creepy." Nilly's eyes opened a little, but she wasn't really awake. The others were too busy talking to notice her. Nilly then opened her eyes fully, though they were now a dull yellow. "Ow.." she whispered faintly. Liam noticed Nilly was awake. "How are you feeling? Or is that a stupid question?" "Not so loud..." She coughed a little. "I've been better... What'd the doctor say?" "Nothing about you to me... he was too busy trying to get me to agree to treatment for my broken ribs, and getting really annoyed when I kept refusing." "Where's Natho?" said Nilly weakly. "Outside," replied Gabrielle. "You'll probably be ok."

"I don't feel okay... I was bitten really bad." Her voice was faint, almost a total whisper. "You're not going to change, are you?" asked Liam. "I'd better not. I'm a half-vampire, but I don't think blooding would work. Natho tried; I still feel sick." "Fight it," said Gabrielle decisively. "Chances are that you're a powerful enough Vampire to fight a change off." "I'll try... I have a headache." Nilly looked out the window. "You guys okay?" "I'm fine,if a bit paler then usual," said Gabrielle. Liam replied, "Sorry about that." To Nilly, he said, "I'm fine; my ribs are healed now." "Not your fault," said Gabrielle to Liam. "It was to save me, so I don't really mind." Nilly looked out the window again, seeing the rain falling. "I'll be fine."

The next day, in the house, everyone was asleep. Liam had slept away from Gabrielle; even tho he wanted to sleep next to her more than anything, he was worried about what her reaction would be. Gabrielle was asleep in her room, she would have preferred Liam to be with her though. Nilly was still asleep, and Natho hadn't slept at all. Liam woke up and went downstairs; he had fed the night before, so didn't have to feed. He saw Natho downstairs and went to speak to him. "Didn't get the chance to ask you before, but just who are you? Don't take it the wrong way, but I've never seen you before." "I'm Nathono Hashimaru, Nilly's friend who supposedly died over two years ago." "I can beat that, I supposedly died 650 years ago. Nice to meet you." Liam looked wistfully up in the direction of Gabrielle's room and sighed. "I can't remember the two years after that," replied Natho. "The day after that, I remember everything. Can't say the same for Nilly. She forgot a lot. Or deliberately didn't want to remember." Erin looked around the door of her room. "You can go up you know." Liam jumped, hoping he didn't look guilty. "Go up where?" Natho stood up. "I'm going to go check on Nilly at the hospital. The doctor said she might be able to stay home for awhile..."

Erin smirked. "To her room. And trying to look innocent doesn't suit you, Liam." Natho smirked as he walked out the door. "Agreed on that." "Dammit!" swore Liam. "How the hell can you just know?!" Natho had walked out the door already, but said, "I heard about it from Mordred talking to Diego." Erin smirked again and answered, "Because I pay attention. To body language, among other things." Liam winced. "If you heard about from Mordred, I can bet it wasn't complimentary," he said to Natho.

At the hospital, Nilly was sitting in a chair, reading a book. She was still hooked up to an IV, which was a portable one. As they went into Nilly's room, Liam was still arguing with Erin. "What do you mean, body language?" "Movements, the way your body reacts. Like if you were uncomfortable with someone you'd go all tense, right?" she replied, grinning. Nilly looked up and smiled. "Hey, Natho. Other two who are arguing, hello to you too." Liam looked annoyed. "It's not an argument, it's a discussion." To Erin, Liam said, "That still doesn't explain how you knew I was thinking about... uh, you know." "Because you were looking up at her room. And you sighed.You wanted to be up there with her." Nilly raised an eyebrow, and Natho shrugged. "How are you doing?" he asked, helping her stand up. "A little woozy still, must've been the blood loss. Otherwise, I'm good. The doctor said I shouldn't go out for a while, only to feed. Must've known I'm a halfa or something..." "All this arguing can't be helping much," said Natho. They looked at each other in exasperation. "Okay, both of you, be quiet," said Natho and Nilly at the same time. Liam flushed red and was silent. Erin poked him. "You know you want to go back to the house and go up to Gabrielle's room, so why don't you? Let's leave these two in peace." Nilly sighed, shaking her head.

That afternoon, Gabrielle was awake and currently drawing a new picture in her sketchpad, it was an abstract one. Liam hesitantly knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" Gabrielle looked up from her work. "Of course." Liam opened the door and went up to Gabrielle. "Just thought I'd tell you... I missed you last night," he said, looking down at the floor in case she laughed. Gabrielle tilted her head. "Then why didn't you come in?" Liam looked up, surprised. "I didn't know whether you wanted me or not." "Well, I did." "And I still want you even now," said Liam. He looked hard at the door. "Does that door have a lock?" Gabrielle smiled. "Yes, it does." The door swung shut and locked itself with a sharp click.

Nilly was sitting on a couch, telling Natho what had happened in the past two years. "... and then I met Gabrielle, then Liam, then everyone else. Can't say I liked San Diego or Mordred much. And when I was talking to Gabrielle the next day, I told her I was starting to lose hope I'd ever find you. I'm sorry," she said, looking at her hands (which were clasped loosely in her lap). "It's okay, Nilly," he said softly, setting a hand on her shoulder. Nilly smiled a little. "I'm still sorry. I never should have given up hope." "Nilly, you don't have to be sorry. It's kinda my fault I didn't show up sooner.." Nilly looked at him, happy to see him again. She'd really missed him. Later, Nilly was walking outside with Natho, just enjoying the city now that she didn't have to just see it. She had never really noticed the happy singing of birds before. "Natho, thanks for saving me.." "You're welcome Nilly." "Remember what I said that night you nearly died?" "Hm?" "I still love you Natho." He smiled. "I love you too Nilly." They continued walking back, wondering where Liam had gone. When they got back, Nilly sat on the couch again, her lower back against a small pillow that had been there when she had sat there before-the hard oak underneath had hurt where her stitches were on her back."You okay?" Natho asked. "My back's just a little sore, I'm okay though." "You sure you're okay? You winced," said Natho, worriedly. "I'm fine, quit worrying. That's my job." "Still..." Nilly rested her head on Natho's shoulder. In a few minutes, she was asleep.

Later, Liam looked at Gabrielle and smiled. She smiled back, putting her arms around him. Gabrielle blew her messy hair out of her eyes as she did so. "Shall we go back down?" said Liam. "Otherwise, they're going to wonder what happened to us. Correction; they'll wonder then guess." Gabrielle sat up. "And then they'll be horrified." She laughed. "Especially Erin. I can imagine her going 'EW, you could have waited!' After all, her room is under yours, remember?" said Liam wickedly. "Ah well, she'll live," replied Gabrielle, heartlessly. "If she isn't traumatized." "And if she is? Well, she can have therapy." Liam laughed. "Come on, let's go downstairs." Liam pulled his clothes on as he spoke. Gabrielle pulled hers on and nodded. Downstairs, Erin was sitting in the kitchen, in shock. When he saw her face, Liam said innocently, "What's the matter?" Erin stared at him in horror. "You... you... YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE SO NOISY!!!" she shouted, her voice trembling. "Noisy?" said Liam, hiding a smirk. "What do you mean, noisy?" Nilly opened an eye. "And you shouldn't yell," she said, yawning. Her comment had been directed at Erin. "I mean... noisy." Erin shuddered. "I didn't need to know that you were... doing it." Nilly and Natho blushed in unison. "Now I'm glad we weren't here!" said Nilly. "Well... you did tell me to go upstairs, Erin," said Liam. Nilly closed her eyes, still blushing a dark colour. Natho was almost the same colour as his shirt. Erin glared at Liam. "Didn't think you'd be so loud!"

(Chapter 9)

That night, Liam slept in Gabrielle's room. Nilly slept peacefully on the couch downstairs, with Natho besides her in a recliner. Upstairs, Gabrielle was in a very deep sleep due to the fact that she hadn't slept for three days. Liam slept deeply, curled up next to Gabrielle. He hadn't slept much the night before, and the healing his body had had to do really took it out of him. It was quite adorable, in a way. Nilly woke up sometime in the middle of the night, yawning. "I won't be able to sleep this time..." she thought, sitting up. Natho woke up as well, yawning. Nilly looked over and said, "Morning or night?" Natho sat by Nilly and said, "Before I fell asleep, I was thinking about something." Nilly looked at him. "And?" "Well... if things don't turn out right... I want you to know that I'll always care about you Nilly." "Natho..." She smiled - who couldn't? He could be a real sweetheart when he wanted to be. Nilly said, "Natho, you worry too much, but you are right. We don't ever truly know what will happen in the future."

Next morning, Cookie, Gabrielle's grey cat jumped up onto the bed mewling and licking both of them on the cheek. Gabrielle got up, swearing at the cat. Liam got up and went downstairs, saying to Gabrielle, "I need to go out and hunt, I won't be long." "OK," Gabrielle said, smiling at him. Later, Gabrielle frowned as she watched Carla come in with a bunch of papers. "Hey Gabrielle? Guess what!" said Carla, chirpily. "What Carla?" said Gabrielle, irritated by Carla's manner. "Well, due to the whole blooding thing you're going to be 17 for the next 10 years!" replied Carla. Gabrielle stared at Carla. "WHAT?!" Liam came in from hunting just in time to hear. "You'll get used to it... I did." "Well it's bit unexpected," said Gabrielle. "Not any warning, or anything." Carla simply looked innocent. "Tell me about it... took me a few decades to get used to it," replied Liam. "Even now I still get mad when someone asks me for ID, I'm 650 years old, for chrissakes."

Later that morning, Gabrielle was adding some finishing touches to her paintings. Nilly was trying to understand what Carla was talking about. "Can you repeat that about Einstein's theory?" Liam was trying to avoid Erin's accusing glare. "Jeez, surely she should have forgotten about that by now?" he thought. Carla sighed "That's the third time Nilly! Even Erin got it second time!" Erin looked cross. "Hey!!" she protested. Liam looked annoyed. "Could you guys talk about something else? You're giving me a headache." "You're not the only one," said Nilly, ruefully. "Carla, I just don't understand it." Gabrielle added her opinion, "It's the way Carla tells it, that makes it impossible to understand. Maybe you should try speaking in English for once, Carla!" Carla looked unrepentant. Erin poked Liam with a stick. He looked at her. "Stop that." She didn't take any notice. Gabrielle and Nilly carried on discussing the theory, with Carla adding occasional comments. Liam got sick of being ignored, and went upstairs, shutting the door with a slam.

Gabrielle went after him. "Are you ok?" "Not really," Liam replied. "You all seem to be ignoring me, except Erin who keeps giving me nasty looks." "Oh right .Sorry." Gabrielle winced. "Could you tell her to cut it out? I don't get why she blames me for the noise and not you." Liam was getting annoyed with Erin. "Because," said Gabrielle, "I can fire her from the job.And last time I fired someone it was Belinda who went out of a train window." "Well she didn't have to stay and listen, did she?" "I know, but Erin likes to blame others for things that are her own fault," explained Gabrielle. "Either ignore her, or hit her. Either's good." "I prefer the second one actually," said Liam. He then went downstairs and sent a mild mental bolt to Erin, knocking her over. "Quit the dirty looks," he said to her. Gabrielle smiled. Erin scowled. "You know, you could have left... don't know why you stayed to listen," said Liam with a smirk. "Jealousy maybe?" "As if," muttered Erin. There was a knock on the door and Carla opened the door. "Eric!" she exclaimed at the young man who stood on the doorstep. Liam raised an eyebrow. "Is that the guy who doesn't believe in vampires?" "Yes," confirmed Gabrielle. Erin started snogging her fiancee the moment he entered the room. Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "And she gives out to us?"

"Erin's such a hypocrite," said Liam. "So, when are we going to kidnap the spoiled brat?" "As soon as Erin's pulled her tongue out of Eric's throat," replied Gabrielle. "Which would be right now, if I have anything to do with it." Gabrielle began pulled Erin away from Eric with some difficulty, neither of the kissers wanted to stop and Gabrielle wasn't in the best of health after all that had happened. After a little tussle, Gabrielle finally succeeded in pulling Erin and Eric apart. "Jesus Christ you two, get a room." Erin scowled at her. "Shut up. I haven't seen him for months." Eric went red. "Oh er...sorry...er...Gabrielle..." Gabrielle rolled her eyes and commented, "And that why you're known as 'the doormat', Eric." Eric went red again "No I'm not..." "You are too," grinned Gabrielle.

Nilly went out to look for Natho. She eventually found him in a park, reading the inscriptions on a statue of the town's founder. "Hey, Natho," said Nilly, walking over to stand by him. "Hello," he replied, seemingly distracted. "Something wrong?" asked Nilly. "Actually, uh..." Natho turned a little and smiled at her. "I found a note you left, telling me to meet you here. And why are we here?" Nilly sounded unsure. "I wanted to give you something." He kissed her gently, then said, "I promise I'll never leave you behind again." Nilly opened her eyes and saw a small silver ring on her right ring finger. "It's a promise ring," said Natho. "I means I want to marry you someday. And the fact I promise to never leave you again." "Natho..." Nilly blinked back tears of happiness. "Is something wrong?" asked Natho. "No... I just..." Before he could say anything, she'd kissed him. When Nilly pulled away, she rested her head on his shoulder. "Natho, I love you..." Natho slid his arms around her waist, whispering, "I love you too, Nilly."

In a small, ramshackle house on the other side of town, Hakaro paced back and forth. "How could this be? Nilly and Natho were dead!" he thought, an angry scowl on his face. He glared at his alley, San Diego who stood a little way away from him. "Diego, you said Nilly would be dead by the time Natho found her!" snarled Hakaro. "I was sure she would be!" growled San Diego. "Don't blame me for your failings." "MY failings?!" replied Hakaro angrily. "This is YOUR fault! You should have set that werewolf of yours out BEFORE those idiots Liam and Gabrielle were even THERE!" "Oh shut up," said San Diego, scowling at his erstwhile ally. "How was I supposed to know? I never even knew that they were friends, I thought they were merely aquaintences!" "Well now you know, whoop-dee-da!" Hakaro sat on a bench. Nearby, a table exploded into flames. San Diego growled, "Stop that you fucking idiot.We can use this to our advantage, I'm sure of it." "But how?," said Hakaro. "Mordred and his daughter are out-of-action, as are his sons. Natho overpowered them. How I'll never know, he's a pathetic half-breed like Nilly. Plus, I wonder just how much control you have over that werewolf of yours." "In that case, we wait til they are back in action. Their help is invaluble to us," replied San Diego, keeping his temper with difficulty. "As for the werewolf, I have complete control over him. His mind is completely blank, due to the injection I gave him. You can rest assured that I control him. As for Nilly, I could always attack her with this sword of mine." San Diego lifted his sword, which was made of gleaming silver from hilt to tip. "That wouldn't work, she's a quarter werewolf. You of all people would know that, seeing as you use the same theory to protect your werewolf from harm. Now get out. I'm weary of your presence."

Later, Nilly's sister Nuala sat at a table with San Diego. She hated her sister; as long as she herself was unhappy, she saw no reason as to why her sister should find happiness. That's why she was working for Hakaro. Her dark camo pants and combat boots were stained with both mud and blood, due to this. She kicked the table with her boots as she stared off into space, ignoring Diego. Just then, a bat flew in thru the window, touched the ground, and changed shape into a young woman with long red hair. She didn't bother standing on ceremony, but spoke straight away. "I'm Juliet, one of Regan's sisters. Father sent me to tell you that he and the rest of the clan are fighting fit again; and that he hopes you've got a better plan than your last one." "We do. First, though, we have to kill Nilly and Natho. That'll get the rest of them angry and "POOF", no more of that stupid league," said Nuala, sipping a soda. San Diego looked at her. "Then what are you waiting for?" "Nilly isn't out yet." Nuala pointed at the TV she was watching. "I hacked into a camera near the bitch's place. Nilly hasn't left yet. Or she's aware we're watching." Juliet shrugged her shoulders. "Father says that he and his sons will get here as soon as they can. I and my other sisters will guard Regan. Father thinks there might be a kidnap attempt." San Diego rolled his eyes in disgust. "Oh so predictable, aren't they?"

"And they're right," said Hakaro, walking in and shaking some feathers off. "I was over there, as a robin. They're talking about kidnapping either Artemis or Regan." "Maybe both," said Juliet. "I'll wait here til Father and my brothers get here, then I'll get back to the house. Regan and Artemis are there together, we'll guard them both." "That's why they're discussing it. Natho," Hakaro said the name with obvious contempt, "had disguised himself as a servant here and at Diego's." At that point, Mordred and his sons materialised at Juliet's side. "Thank you, Juliet," Mordred said to her. "You've done well." Juliet smiled, then changed back into her bat shape and flew out the window.

Back at Mordred's mansion house, Regan and Artemis were in Regan's bedroom, up in the tower. They had spent a lot of time together and were becoming good friends. Artemis flipped through one of Regan's fashion magazines, she was exactly like any other teenage girl. Regan lay on her front, painting her long nails a dark shade of purple. "Well, this is going to be fun," she said. "My bossy sisters hanging around the whole time, just cuz Father's gotten paranoid that we might be kidnapped." "Yeah, it's so stupid." Artemis applied a coat of light blue gloss to her nails. "Still at least we can spend some time doing important things for a change," said Regan. "My brothers are helping Father this time... best thing really." "Yep," agreed Artemis. "Best leave it to the less important ones." Regan nodded. "The ones who it doesn't matter if they break a nail or wreck their faces." "They're not beautiful like us!" "Nope... and my sisters are really jealous of that fact." Regan finished painting her nails and spread her fingers out to dry the polish. "If they spent more time looking after themselves and wore more makeup, they could look passable," Regan remarked. Just then, another of Regan's sisters, Ophelia walked in without knocking. She had brown hair and yellow eyes. "Just to let you two know, Father along with Tybalt and Othello have gone and Juliet's back. Would be best if you two stayed in Regan's room for the moment." She turned and left, shutting the door smartly. Artemis stuck up her middle finger. "Whatever..."

Meanwhile, the others were working out a plan. "... and that's all I can think of for the plan," said Natho, finishing up what he knew about Mordred's house. "Okay," said Gabrielle. "So when do we go?" "The secret entrance, which I don't think Mordred knows about, is in the park. That's one of the reasons I was there earlier." "Soon?" said Liam. "One thing tho... we will have to be much more careful now than I was back then." "Soon," agreed Natho. "Evening is not the best, but nor is dawn. It's almost noon anyways. Can all of us go out this time of day?" "I can," replied Nilly. "I don't need anything." "Nor do I," said Liam. "I fed earlier."

At the park, Nilly was the first to run through the park, stopping at the statue. Liam walked up. "This isn't the way I got in last time; I found an offshoot in the town to the main tunnel. I think the reason I was caught was cuz I was making too much noise and not shielding my thoughts at all." Nilly was tapping some of the letters on the ingraving. "This is actually a very rare kind of keyboard hooked up to a computer. It's used mostly by spies and other kinds of CIA, FBI, and other groups," she explained, tapping a few more letters. "The sad thing is one of the main letters is missing.." "The FBI probably knocked it off," said Liam, scornfully. "They're a bunch of incompetants." Eric walked up to Nilly and tapped a few blank spaces. "Is that them? Oh god, I hope my father never finds out I'm doing this." "No, it was the Chinese CIA. They were here a few months back - must've been working with my dear older sister, Nuala. She's a 'rhymes with rich'," said Nilly dryly. "Like Regan and Artemis then," commented Liam. "No, Nala used to be in a war. She's mostly werewolf." After a moment, the statue slid backward a little - but stopped halfway. Something was blocking it. Nilly, who was the smallest one in the group anyways jumped through the space and said, "The gears are rusted. I have a flashlight. Come on."

Everyone carefully jumped down thru the opening. "Whereabouts does this tunnel come out?" said Liam. "If you can, shield your thoughts." Nilly flipped a nearby switch, and the statue finished opening. She put a battery in the flashlight and twisted the light, and it was brighter than day in there. It was now exactly midnight. "I think we'll probably pass the way I came in later," said Liam. "It joins up to the main tunnel soonish." As they walked down the underground tunnel, Nilly could faintly smell gasoline. "Erin, don't use your pyrokinetic abilities. If you do, we're dead." "Don't worry," replied Erin. "I'm strictly nonflammable." Walking down the tunnel, they passed a small passage big enough for a human to crawl down on all fours. "That's where I came in," said Liam. "I prefer this way actually." "Who wouldn't?" said Gabrielle flippantly. "Looks like somewhere a dog would come from." "Very funny," said Liam sarcastically. "I'll have you know, I crawled down that tunnel for what seemed like miles. Not a laughing matter at all." As they walked, they saw footprints in the dirt... prints from the werewolf. "I'm going on ahead," said Nilly. "If I scream or end up dead, go back and use the tunnel Liam used." She walked on ahead and disappeared, then walked back and gave Natho the flashlight. "I can see just fine without it, really." She disappeared into the dark shadows beyond the light of the flashlight.

Chapter 10

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed from the far side of the tunnel, wherever it was. "YOU BITCH!!!!!" someone yelled. Natho ran ahead, stopping only once to say, "Come on!" Liam immediately sprinted off after Natho. Erin, Eric, Gabrielle and Carla ran after the sound too. Soon, Natho slowed down, skidding to a halt on the rocky ground. They were in a large cavern, right below a ladder that had been drawn up. "Great..." He pointed the light around. There were water puddles here and there. "What's water doing here?" asked Erin. "It's an old area where groundwater used to settle. It's recently been drained," explained Natho. "Wait a minute..." Liam said. He bent and picked something off the ground. It was an earring in the shape of a bat and it was still warm. "One of those bitch daughters of Mordred was here... and very recently too." "Oh crap," said Gabrielle."Which one do you think?" "Wait a minute.." Natho took it and said, "It looks like Nuala's too." He flipped it over, and on the back were the initials "N.A.T." "That's Nala's initials. This is bad." "Smells like Juliet to me," said Liam. "She often shares her jewellry with friends but not with her sisters, so I'm told." "Nala must've lent it to her." He threw the earring off somewhere. "We really need to find where Nilly went.." He walked over to a lamp on the wall and, no sooner had he looked at it, the oil in it had caught fire.

"Did you do that?" asked Liam. "Yeah," Natho replied. "I'm something of a fire demon." "You and Juliet have something in common then. All of Mordred's kids can dissapparate, cuz he can do that, but only Juliet and Ophelia can use fire." "Juliet's a bitch if you ask me," replied Natho. "Sadly, all the kids are bad. They all take after their bastard father," said Liam. "Figured as much." Natho then tripped on something. "Ow..." He sat up, rubbing his head. "Ow." He shone the light on whatever it was - and gasped. It was San Diego's silver sword, the one he had proposed they use to kill Nilly, stabbed into the ground. Gabrielle pulled it out. "This is my father's. He's never too far from it." Liam took it. "It's mine now." "And there he is," said Natho, shining the flashlight on the still body of San Diego. He appeared to be dead. He had a nasty wound that was a result of having been stabbed with his own sword. "He can't be dead," said Gabrielle. "Sadly, he's immortal... that means he can't die... at least til I work out a way to kill him." "Wait a minute..." said Liam. He quickly put his hand on San Diego's chest. "He's not dead." He took a pair of wooden handcuffs from his bag. "These'll hold him; he'll come round in a minute." Liam locked the handcuffs round San Diego's wrists. "I brought a few things from my equipment bag. Wood might not poison him, but it'll secure him." Natho poked Diego with his foot. "Wake up." San Diego didn't respond.

"Let me try," said Liam impatiently. He then kicked San Diego in the ribs. San Diego groaned. "Oh, it's you," he said in distaste. "Yeah, it's us," Natho said, glaring at Diego with an equal amount of contempt. "Where's Nilly and that werewolf?" San Diego said nothing. "Either you answer, or we have some fun while we torture you," said Liam. "So sad to be weakened by wood..." He took a wooden collar out of his bag and clicked it round San Diego's neck, attaching a rope made of woven bark to it. He pulled hard on it, forcing San Diego to his feet. San Diego just stood there, looking as if he couldn't care less. Natho glared at him. "Let's make this the last chorus shall we? Where are they?" "How should I know? But I'm going to rip off Mordred's head." "Mordred did this?" asked Natho, frowning. "Ding ding DING! Give the boy a prize!" said San Diego sarcastically. "Thought you two were best friends," sneered Liam. "And you'll have to wait your turn as far as that goes." "Best friends?" San Diego rolled his eyes in a world weary fashion. "We barely tolerate each other." "Then why did you work together?" asked Natho. "Because. We had to." "And then he went and backstabbed you, almost literally?" replied Natho. "Why would he do that?" "You'll have to work that out for yourself, cuz you won't hear it from me," replied San Diego. Liam kicked San Diego's legs out from under him, sending him crashing into the dirt. "Don't worry, we will."

"I'm going to go look for Nilly," said Natho, with a worried expression on his face. "I have a very bad feeling about this. When I was over by that lamp, I could smell an old enemy's scent around it. That's not good." As Natho walked down a nearby hall, he noticed that a lot of blood had been shed. "Nilly.. were you here?" he thought to himself. San Diego smiled nastily. "Hakaro's probably killed her already." Natho stopped walking. "If he killed her, or even hurt her, he'll die." Liam yanked on the rope, causing the collar to tighten unpleasantly. "Shut up, unless you're going to tell us how to get in here without alerting Mordred, his clan or his new best friend." "I hope she's dead," said San Diego unconcernedly. "It's so lovely to see people crack." "It'll be lovely to see you crack more like," replied Liam. Natho walked ahead, soon vanishing. As he walked through the hall, he became worried. "She's definately been here... And so has Hakaro..." he thought, looking around the place. Natho kneeled down by a gasoline canister that had leaked; if he had to use his fire powers, he'd have to be careful... He stood up upon hearing someone's weak breathing. He took a few steps forward-and almost fell backward in shock. It was Nilly, a silver dagger through her stomach. He kneeled by her, not believing what happened. "Nilly...?" "Natho... is.. that you?" she whispered, her voice weak. "Shhh... it's okay, Nilly, I'm here. What happened?" "My sister... she... she's dead... Hakaro killed her... Then I ran because he had the dagger..." She coughed up blood, then whispered, "I wasn't able to run fast enough..."

"And what could possibly make me crack?" San Diego sneered at Liam. Liam shrugged. "Gabrielle, would you care to summon a certain ghost for me?" "Which one?" grinned Gabrielle. San Diego watched them warily. "Oh I don't know... say, Maria?" replied Liam carelessly. Gabrielle grinned. "Good choice." She began to cast the spell. San Diego snarled, "Don't.You. Fucking. Dare." To San Diego, Liam said, "Aww, is lickle Sandy afwaid of Maria?" "No I'm not. But she is the most annoying bitch ever." he glared at Gabrielle. "She's taking after her."

Nilly's death throes attracted the others' attention. Liam looked hard at Nilly, then narrowed his eyes. He walked over to the body and made believe that he was going to slam the sword down when Nilly screamed and shifted shape. A girl with short red hair jumped up; it was another of Mordred's daughters, Mariana. She ran away into the tunnel before anyone could move. Natho looked confused. Liam pointed down the tunnel. "Go after her; she was probably trying to distract you so you wouldn't find Nilly in time." Natho ran after the fleeing girl, then stopped as he heard coughing. He swung the light around and saw Nilly standing, slumped, against a wall. A bloody silver knife was on the ground nearby in a puddle of blood. "Nilly? Is it really you?" "I can't.. breathe..." She was shuddering badly, and her tears were silvery - just like they always were. No imposter could copy that.

Liam spoke to Gabrielle. "Raise that ghost up, Sandy is dying to see her again." He walked over to Natho and Nilly. "Is this really her, or another of those bitches pretending to be her?" "It's her. No one could ever copy her tears. They're silvery." He gently shook Nilly's shoulder, making her look up. Indeed, her face was streaked with silvery tears, and she was still crying. "I guess I never should have gone ahead.." The ghost of Maria Van Helsing appeared. She had on a long deep purple dress that matched her eyes with her black hair streaming over her shoulders. "Now what do you want?" she started to say before she laid eyes on San Diego. "Oh, him." Liam sneered at San Diego, "Now you can make things up with at least one of your lovers." Nilly coughed into her hand, shaking. "We have to get out of here. Hakaro is just around that corner. He knows I'm not dead." She tried to stand without being against a wall, but she nearly fell over. If it hadn't been for Natho, she would've fallen. Natho picked Nilly up bridal-style, so she wouldn't fall over again. "Natho, I'm sorry.." she whispered, tears still falling. "It's OK," he said, holding her close to him.

San Diego watched Maria with narrowed eyes. Liam pulled on the rope, bringing San Diego closer to Maria. Maria floated closer then she spat in San Diego's face. "You fucking asshole." "For once, I agree with Maria," said Liam. Maria looked at Liam for the first time. "Hey, you're the one that killed me! Well thanks for that. I hated being insane." "Yeah, that was me... didn't expect you to thank me for it," replied Liam. He casually kicked San Diego in the shins so he fell to the ground, then pulled hard on the rope, pulling him back up again. "Sandy's in a bad mood right now, cuz his bestest friend Mordred has gone off with someone else," said Liam, smirking. "He has?" said Maria, gleefully. "I always knew they were gay lovers." "Oh, they were... now he's getting all jealous," said Liam, laughing at the furious expression on San Diego's face. San Diego attempted to hit Maria, he couldn't so he got even more frustrated. "Behave, Sandy," said Liam, yanking the rope hard. San Diego spat at Liam. "Go to hell." Liam moved so that the spittle flew past him, then he turned and kicked San Diego in the groin, then yanked hard on the collar so the wood of it bit into his neck. Liam then hit San Diego hard with the flat of the silver sword. San Diego groaned in pain. "Behave yourself and you won't get hurt," said Liam to San Diego. He pulled on the lead, forcing San Diego to his knees. Both Gabrielle and Liam laughed at the sight.

San Diego narrowed his eyes. "You won't be laughing soon enough." "And why is that, Sandy?" "You'll see, you'll see..." His eyes lingered over Gabrielle's stomach. Liam pulled harder on the lead, forcing San Diego onto all fours. "Well, for now I'm laughing and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts." San Diego gave him a venomous look. "Just do it. I dare you." Liam grinned maliciously. "You're probably used to being like this anyway, I don't see this as being a problem for you." "Fuck off boy." said San Diego angrily. "He's my cousin." "Then why the tantrums when you found out he'd ditched you and gone off with someone else?" "Because he fucking stabbed me!" "Lover's tiff, maybe?" said Liam in a nasty tone of voice. San Diego snarled at him. Liam kicked him hard in the mouth and San Diego quietened down. "He's finally learning," Gabrielle said to Liam. "Took him long enough."

Natho and Nilly had walked off together, leaving the others with the prisoner. Nilly had to stop and sit down, however, because she started having trouble breathing. "Natho, I'm really sorry," said Nilly, her breathing shallow. "I just wanted you guys to be safe when you went through the tunnel and... and..." "Stop kicking yourself over it, Nilly. What's happened has happened and nothing can reverse it." "That's just it Natho, I'm not meant to be alive, I shouldn't be." Natho was shocked. "What?" A tear trickled down Nilly's cheek. "Death has been after me for I don't know how long... Ever since that fire back in London, during the reign of Jack the Ripper, Death has wanted me to die. I wasn't meant to survive that fire, Natho. It's after me and won't let go until someone dies and is revived. It won't stop... Not until I die..." She closed her eyes and quietly sobbed, her face looking down. Natho sat by her and hugged her until she whispered, "I need to tell you something..." She paused, looking down at the dirt. "Natho, Death won't let me die, but I'm supposed to... How can you stop Death from keeping someone alive?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't know Nilly... I don't..." He fell silent as he felt her sobbing again, scared and upset. "Nilly..." When she looked up again, her face was still streaked with tears. "Natho, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be throwing all of this on you..." "It's okay, Nilly. Just calm down." She rested her head on his shoulder again, closing her eyes.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Mariana was reporting to her father. "They're in the tunnel, you say?" "Yes, father," replied Mariana. "I'd better go down and see them then," said Mordred. "Go and tell your brothers to be ready." Mordred used the secret entrance to get in the tunnel; it was in the cellars cuz putting it anywhere important like his study would just be stupid. Mariana had told him that Liam and Gabrielle were down there with a few others; he didn't expect much trouble. Mordred went down into the cellar. His family were all in; his daughters upstairs guarding Artemis and Regan, except Mariana who would be priming her brothers. His wife was probably in the kitchen, but he didn't think of her at all if he could help it. He dropped into the tunnel, and walked down it. He eventually saw Liam and Gabrielle... as well as San Diego who they had prisoner. He walked up to them. "So he didn't die then? What a pity." San Diego glared at Mordred with hatred. "Bastard." Mordred looked at him and laughed. "You let those kids put that collar and lead on you? You're losing it." San Diego tried to hit Mordred with a mental bolt, but it was deflected, hitting the wall with an audible thump. "Stupid as usual," said Mordred nastily. "I've got my daughters keeping a look out. You should have realised that." San Diego merely growled angrily. Gabrielle watched the scene with some amusment. Liam watched too, laughing to himself. Suddenly, he pulled on the lead, forcing San Diego to his knees. "That look familar?" "By the way," said Gabrielle casually. "I've been wondering. Is there anything between you two?" Mordred looked at her in a more or less neutral way. "Let me put it this way; he was useful to me then he wasn't, so I got rid of him."

Suddenly, a loud yell echoed from down the hall. "Hakaro! Get back here you little bastard!!!" Mordred said nothing, but looked in the direction of the scream. San Diego narrowed his eyes. "Mordred had better not say anything..." he thought. Mordred seemed to guess what he was thinking, eyeing San Diego with faint amusement. "How's your son, by the way?" he said suddenly. Gabrielle looked surprised at this. San Diego replied shortly, "He's fine. You can tell your wife that from me." "I doubt that's entirely true," said Mordred. "But I certainly will tell her that." Meanwhile, Natho had run after Hakaro, who had just stabbed Nilly again. "I swear, he gets worse every... If Nilly dies, he will pay... She's injured already, and he goes and tries to..." He slowed down, skidding a little in the mud. "I know you're out there Hakaro!" he snarled, glaring. He was in a different room than the others. He was alone, against a foe he nearly died fighting last time. Suddenly, something jumped on him and bit him, hissing. He threw whatever it was off and into a nearby puddle, clasping a hand over his neck. He was bleeding. "Typical, Hakaro. Ambushes." "You're pathetic more than I," said the other, smiling nastily. "More than me seems the term. If Nilly dies, you die as well. I won't let you..." "The werewolf has been injected with a strain of Nilly's DNA," interrupted Hakaro. Natho looked at him in disbelief. "What?" "You heard me," said Hakaro. "On my orders, San Diego injected Nilly's DNA into the werewolf along with the mind control serum. That's why she didn't die. The only way for that werewolf to die is for Nilly to die. And as long as Death won't let her, that werewolf will continue to live and torment others." He gave a nasty grin. Natho just stared blankly at Hakaro, trying to process what he had just said.

"Let's get out of here," said Liam to Gabrielle. "We can't kidnap Regan now; they're on to us. We can try again later," he sent to her and the others in a carefully shielded message. Mordred said to Hakaro, "They're leaving now. So are we; there's no point to us being here. Just leave them here. As for San Diego, we don't need him. I can control the werewolf just as easily as he can." Hakaro nodded, then Mordred made a sign in the air. They both vanished. Natho picked Nilly up, and they all walked down the tunnel, Liam dragging an unusually silent San Diego on the lead behind him. "We'll take Sandy along as a hostage for now," he said. "Altho it's unlikely that anyone would pay anything to free him." Once they were clear of the house, Gabrielle turned to Liam. "So, when do we go and kidnap Regan? Let's take Artemis, too." "We can't try it now, all of Mordred's daughters will be guarding them," replied Liam. "However, if we leave them alone for long enough, they'll get bored and leave the house. Then we get them." "Can someone please tell me what the hell's going on?" asked Eric, pathetically. He and the others had returned to the mouth of the tunnel to wait for the rest to come back. Gabrielle explained it, as they climbed out of the tunnel and made towards base.


End file.
